Gas Can
by bonesfan05
Summary: A massive train crash leads the partners into a new mystery. Booth looses a member of his family but gains more than he thought possible; a grandmother. Humor, loss, and everything in between.


Booth sat, suppressing the emotions into the pit of his stomach like bad chinese. He looked at the man in front of him, the man whom he shared DNA, the man, except for a little graying around the temples, could be his twin. Deep down he was grateful looks were the only thing he shared with this man; they were exact opposite.

"You've done well for yourself, Seeley," he said taking in the interrogation room's surroundings. "Much better than the shabby cells back home." He chuckled nervously, palming the back of his neck. Booth internally cringed at the inherited action.

"Yeah well, we like our criminals to feel like their getting their tax payer dollars worth," he quipped sarcastically. He flipped his legal pad to a fresh page, clicked the tip of his favorite blue BIC then poised it ready to take notes.

"Why don't you tell me what happened this morning."

"On the freeway?" the man asked.

"No, on the moon. Yes on the freeway. That is why you're here, isn't it? A witness to a crime." His hands itched to reach over and strangle the last breath out of this man but he thought better of it. There were cameras afterall. Although he was sure he could probably get away with it.

"I just need the details," Booth prompted again after the man didn't respond right away.

"Yes, well, I was sitting in my truck, going to work, when this SUV flew by me." He made a quick motion with his hand to emphasize the speed.

"What kind of SUV was it?" Booth asked.

"Blue?" the man posed as a question. "It all happened so fast Seeley. Blue, yes, blue. Definately blue."

"Great, that's a big help. A blue SUV. Couldn't be more than...five of those."

"Now let me think," he retried. "Besides blue...it was a Honda. I remember the emblem. And it had the spare on the back, not underneath."

Booth jotted on his pad.

"Anything else?"

"Like what?"

"The license number, how many people were inside, was the driver a man, woman, white, black."

"Hmm, I guess just the driver inside, no one else I saw. No number. Man, he was wearing a hat."

"A hat. Great." He scribbled again then pushed up from the table. "Give me a few more minutes then you'll be free to go." He let the door slam behind him as he made his way back to the office. His partner was sitting behind his desk, flipping through a magazine hastily when he walked in.

"Make yourself at home, Bones," he greeted her, shutting the door behind him. He could feel the beginnings of a serious migraine forming behind his left eye.

She rushed to his side and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Is it true? Is your father here? Have you seen him?"

"One question at a time, Bones." He fell into his chair releasing her leftover scent from the fabric and up to his nose.

"Jack said-"

"Don't start sentences like that," he groaned.

"Jack said," she repeated," it was your father who witnessed the accident. Is he correct?"

"He saw the car."

"Who? Jack or your father?"

Booth sighed heavily. "My father." He put the heel of his palms in his eye sockets and rubbed.

Brennan rubbed the back hairs on his neck softly trying to calm him as best she could. "I'm sorry," was all she could come with, word wise.

He removed his hands and stared out in front of him. "Oh it's not your fault. I just, when I woke up this morning the last thing I expected to do was interview my father. I mean, shit, what is he doing in DC?"

"Did you ask him that?"

"Yeah Bones, I asked him. Right after we sang kum-by-ya and roasted marshmallows."

"Well don't yell at me," she snapped breaking away from him and heading toward the door. "I was only here because I _thought_ this might be a difficult position for you to be in. But I can see you've obviously got a hold of yourself what with your sarcastic comments and witty retorts. I'll just leave you to it then."

She was two steps from the door before Booth got to her, shoving the door closed and boxing her in with his arms around her.

"I'm sorry baby," he whispered into her hair. "I didn't mean to take it out on you." He rested his forehead on her shoulder trying to get himself together. "Forgive me please."

He felt her body softened underneath him. She turned and cupped his cheeks in her hands as she searched his eyes.

"Tell me what you need," she said simply. Straight forward, like always.

"I need...I need you to help me solve this case."

"Done. What else?" She placed a soft kiss to his lips, letting her tongue glide along his bottom lip gently.

"I need you to help me deal with my dad," he said pushing her back against the door and kissing her more deeply.

"Of course. Anything else?"

"Hmm," he hummed running his hand under skirt. His groan broke them apart and she smiled at him mischieviously. "I need you to start wearing underwear to work."

B&B

It wasn't long before Brennan was back in her own office going over the remains of the crime scene with Wendall, Jack and Cam. Angela was busy, engulfed in the latest issue of Cosmopolitan.

"It says here," she said not looking up at the group," men only want three to five minutes of oral sex before getting busy."

"Good to know," Cam chuckled.

"Why only three to five?" Brennan asked placing several bone shards in their own individual petri dishes. "Is that enough stimulation?"

Jack and Wendell exchanged glances, silently gaging who was going to field this one. Wendell blinked first.

"I don't believe the object is to orgasm, Dr. Brennan," he answered as straight faced as he could. Jack gave him an approving nod.

"Then what's the point?" Angela asked.

"Uh, it feels good."

"People I think we have work to do," Cam said trying to get them back on track.

"We are all capable of multi tasking Dr. Soroyan," Brennan answered cooly. "Angela, what else does it say?"

"Ok let's see." She skimmed the page. "It talks about a little back door action-"

"Ok, I've heard enough!" Cam said effectively putting a stop of all blow job and back door talk. "This is disrespectful and we need to work."

"They can't hear us," Jack objected, motioning to the multiple bpdy parts on the exam table.

"But I can," she countered," and to me it feels disrespectful, so let's get back to work. Angela if you must read, do it quietly."

The group went back to work as directed but was interrrupted by Booth scanning his key card and joining them noisily on the platform.

"Hey Squints and Squintettes, what's you got for me?" He stopped short at the table seeing all the pieces in front of him. His lip curled in a disgusted manner.

"Well," Brennan motioned to the covered table," this is all the evidence we collected from grid 1 from the crime scene. So far we have seperated 37 different bone fragements, 16 pieces of fabric, a gum wrapper, two fingernails, lots of organic matter along with metal and plastic fragments plus organic debris we have yet to identify."

"Holy shit," he sighed.

"My topic of conversation was much better," Angela said joining them at the table as she pulled on a set of latex gloves.

"Which was what?" Booth asked.

"Blow jobs," Brennan answered.

Booth shrugged nonchalantly," sounds about right."

"Can we...?" Cam waved back over the evidence on the table.

"Right. Now what do we know from this...stuff?" Booth asked. He pulled his BIC and notecard from his internal pocket and stood ready to dictate to himself.

"Booth we don't know anything yet," Brennan said in a disappointed tone. "It's much too early to tell anything, especially since we're only in grid 1."

"You can't tell me anything? I need something to take to Hacker."

"Do we have an official body count yet?" Cam asked. "That might help us when we're at the narrowing down point."

_Thank you Cam, always the ever optimist. _

"At noon the count was 12," Booth told her. "But the safety commission is holding a press conference at four, maybe that'll have changed."

"I'd say at least double if not triple that," Jack offered.

"I concur," Brennan agreed.

"Why?" Booth asked. Brennan nodded for Jack to fill in since this was more his field than hers.

"The explosion's force, Booth. With what was on board, you can can calculate was was chemically possible."

Booth sighed, not liking the implications of the phrase chemically possible.

"Explain. Use small words," he told Jack.

"Sure. Chemicals, like anything else, have certain limitations. Imagine a balloon. You can only fill it full of so much air before it pops. A railcar is the same way. Filled to capacity there is a known amount of damage that would be produced in an explosion."

"It's simple mathematics, Booth," Brennan told him.

"Exactly. Compressed chemicals explode at certain rates. With the number of cars that exploded, the cars being filled to capacity, doing the math you can determine the radius of destruction. Not to mention the incredible heat it produced during the explosion then the fire after. No one surives that. If you weren't blown to bits you were basically turned into a human hotdog over a camp fire."

Booth grimaced. "Gross. Not what I wanted to hear so close to mealtime."

"Sorry man."

Booth regrouped, taking in all the information. "So you think it wasn't just some freak accident? This could have been intentional?"

"If it was a coincidcence than it's the biggest one I've ever seen. Hitting that semi, the chemicals he was hauling; it was well timed, man. I think he knew exactly what he was doing."

"Hacker isn't going to like this one bit," Booth said shaking his head. "You're got to have proof this wasn't an accient, I can't just got to Hacker with what we think might or might not be a huge coinicidence." He needed confirmation before the rumor mills starting churning and news broadcasts starting scaring the shit out of people. He looked to all of them individually and waiting for the nods of approval.

"Great. Just what I need, as many as 36 homicides. This is going to be a nightmare." He felt like rubbing his eye sockets again. Maybe if he pressed hard enough he could rub out this entire day.

Brennan, sensing his turmoil, rubbed a hand down his back and waited for him to look at her. The group had been used to this affection, not so openly until as of late, and they all exchanged small grins and knowing glances at the comfort the pair seemed to always provide one another. His smile was gentle but forced and she could tell he needed some real rest. But they both knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"What time do you want me to pick you up tonight?" He asked her. "I was thinking six."

"Booth, I have a lot to do. Why don't you just go back to the Hoover and I can call you when we're done for the night," she suggested but he knew better.

He laughed dryly. "Not going to happen. If I waited for you to call I'd be sitting on my ass till next Christmas. Besides, there's too much to process Bones and you and I both know you don't work well without proper sleep. I need you fresh, so we're going home at a decent time tonight, babe."

"But Booth-"

"No buts," he told her firmly.

"Fine," she relented. "But I won't leave before seven."

"Six thirty."

"Six forty five."

"Six thirty."

"Six forty."

"Six forty, six forty five. What can you do in five minutes, Bones?"

Cam shot a look at Angela before she could open her mouth. "Don't answer that."

**14 Hours Prior**

_Casey Jones adjusted the volume on the radio, turning up the current song and humming a few bars. She watched her eight year daughter, Abigail, and her best friend, Chloe, playing Barbies in the back seat. It wouldn't be long, Casey mused, that the barbies would be long forgotten and the Ken dolls in her life wouldn't have plastic moldings of where things should be. _

_"Turn it up, Mom," Abigail told her mother. "This is my favorite." _

_So Casey adjusted the volume again, this time a little louder for her taste but the girls enoyed the hard beats coming from the stereo and she laughed as they all began to sing along. It would be the last thing she remembered. _

_The few survivors, the people had been far enough back to see but not be hurt, would repeat the same thing. The heat. It was so intense it was later reported by medical tehnicans that the skin had literally melted off the closest bodies making them nothing but insta-skeletens. _

**16 Hours Later, FBI Conference Room A**

Andrew Hacker hated the press. They were greedy little weasels who turned your words and could make you look like a real dumbass if they wanted. But today as he adjusted his tie in the mirror, checked to make sure he had nothing lodged in his teeth and smiled to himself in the mirror just once as a little pick me up, he realized he hating giving this kind of news more than he hated the press.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for being here today." He took a drink of water, swallowing the grapefruit that had seemed to lodge there suddenly, then plundged forward. "It is a regretful situation that brings us here today. As most of you are aware, this morning at approxmiately 8:10, a person-whom we are not at liberty to divulge is male or female-drove his vehicle into a freight train carrying ten filled cargo containers of LPG or liquid petrolium gas. Upon impact, the first four containers sequentionally exploded leaving the other six still intact. Fire and HAZMAT teams were able to keep these six containers fully functioning and accounted for.

Unfortunately, this explosion has cost us several lives. As the railway was next to a busy freeway with people going to work and school, as well as being near a residential area the loss of live is substantial. At this time we have recovered a total of 57 intact remains. We are working with the Jeffersonian Institute here in DC to recover and identify other remains. We will bring you a up to date account as we have the information.

The Governor has issued a state of emergency in an area of 25 miles from point of impact. We are unsure yet of the environmental impact this will have on the area but we are working with national organizations as well as local agencies to ensure the affect is minimal. Schools will be relocated to a safer distance until the all clear is given. All local businesses and restaurants will be immediately shut down until water levels have been checked and confirmed safe. Right now local law enforement as well as the National Gaurd are helping evacuate families to safer distances. The Red Cross and FEMA will be setting up mobile units by night fall to help find temporary shelter as well as other needs.

I need to emphasize that right now, we are certain this is not a terrorist attack or linked to any known terrorist organizations. We believe this is an isolated event brought about by one man, or woman, working on their own volition.

Again, I want to thank everyone for being here. We've set up our next press conference for tomorrow at ten am where we will have more information as it is available."

Andrew gathered his notes, gave a small smile and headed back to his office ignoring the frantic press and their onslaught of questions. He just didn't have answers right now. Plus he felt like he was going to throw up.

"You two," he said passing Booth and Brennan on his way out," follow me."

B&B

"Tell me something, anything that might make this seem less of a cluster fuck. Excuse my language, Temperance," he added as an afterthought. He pulled a bottle of antacids from his desk drawer and dumped a handfull into his mouth. Booth wasn't even sure he chewed before he swallowed.

"You two are my go-to people." He pointed at them as he took a seat behind his desk. "I need you working on getting the pieces of people put back together and figuring out who they are. The local coroner's office is going to handle the...whole people so you don't need to worry about them. Whatever she needs Booth, give it to her. Have we set up some sort of ground zero?"

Brennan nodded. "Ground zero is always established first in these types of events, Andrew. The area is going to take time to grid then once that takes place we can begin collecting evidence, photographing the area then taking away any remains we find. Security and intergrity of the sight is going to be of upmost importance."

"Yes, yes, of course. I'm going to make sure of that. No screw-ups. Next on the list is going to be keeping order. Looting is going to be rampid. People are in full panic mode by now and they aren't going to stop at much when it comes to keeping their families safe and fed. You two don't worry about that, just stick with the basics of getting these remains identified. Booth, I want updates every morning at 8:30 sharp. If I'm going in at ten I need some time to get my ducks in a row. If there are any major updates I want to be the first to know. I can't have some lameass reporter sideswiping me with something I should have known all along. Got it?"

"Yes, sir, absolutely," Booth agreed.

There are a knock at the door and Booth and Brennan turned around as Andrew looked aorund them to see who it was.

"Mr. Cullen." Andrew addressed his former boss. He quickly stood and buttoned his suit jacket.

"Sir!" Booth greeted his former mentor and very good friend with a firm handshake then a strong manly hug.

"Agent Booth," Cullen greeted him warmly. He moved past the agent and went to his partner, pulling her close with an affectionate peck on the cheek.

"Dr. Brennan, it's always a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine Mr. Cullen, how have you been? It's been a long time since we've seen you."

"It has been a long time, you're right. And I'm doing well, thank you. I was in the building, I'm doing some light consulting work now, and I thought I'd stop by, see how things were progressing. I heard about the train incident this morning. How are things shaping up?"

"We have things under control," Andrew said simply. "Permitters have been set, security is in place."

"Yes that was a cracker-jack speech, Andrew. It looked like you were getting a prostate exam with a wooden spoon."

Booth did a good fake couch cover to hide this amusement.

"You're looking at a pretty large grid," he observed.

Booth took the oppurtunity to speak this time. "We're looking at a _huge_ grid. Remains have been found as far out as two miles. Forensics teams will be working 12 hour shifts in order to clear the area."

Cullen nodded his approval. "So we're not thinking terrorist?"

"Some nut would be my guess," Booth answered. "Right now there isn't any evidence supporting terror but we're watching all the channels just to make sure. We'll figure out what this guy's angle was, it'll just take time. Once Bones gets him identified things will quickly progress."

"I have no doubt in either of your abilities," Cullen told the two of them with warm affection. "I know first hand at the great things you two can do."

"Well," he said standing and making his way to the door," it was nice to see everyone. Agent Booth, you have my number, call me some time we'll go have a beer."

"Absolutely sir." The men shook hands again and Cullen spoke softly to him.

"Congratulations by the way; couldn't be happier for the both of you."

"Thank you, we're happy as well," Booth said giving Brennan a little wink.

"Dr. Brennan, Andrew." He waved as he closed the door behind him.

"What a pleasant surprise," Brennan said when they were alone again.

"Yeah, for sure," Booth agreed.

Andrew popped another handfull of Tums.

B&B

It was 6:30 exactly when Booth pulled into the Jeffersonian parking lot to find his partner and girlfriend waiting for him on the sidewalk. She waved as he pulled to the curb and she climbed inside.

"I figured I'd have to drag you out," he told her.

After closing her seatbelt into place she leaned over and pressed a warm kiss to his lips. "There wasn't anything else to do today. We've isolated all the remains but until we have everything collected we can't really piece anything together."

"Understood." He pulled out of the lot and joined the growing evening traffic. "It's going to be a long span of days, Bones."

"Agreed." She closed her eyes and leaned back against the head rest. "Which apartment are we going to?"

"Do you have eggs?"

"I believe so."

"Yours it is."

He made the appropriate turns and within minutes they were parking the car and heading upstairs to Brennan's apartment. Since their relationship had progressed they had spent nearly equal amount of time at both of their apartments. On weekends Booth had Parker, they stayed exclusively at his then would return for several days to hers. The transition was easier than either of them anticipated.

"What a day, I'm beat," Booth said dropping the contents of his pockets plus his wallet and watch on the side table. He tossed his shoes in the hall closet then joined her in the kitchen.

"The work ahead of us is substantial," she told him taking a pitcher of tea from the fridge and pulling two glasses from the cabinet.

"Do you have any insights?" she asked handing him a glass after dropping a fresh lemon slice inside.

Booth shrugged as he drank nearly the whole glass down. "Thanks." He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. "I don't know what I'm feeling yet. I guess I haven't been out there enough. Usually the more I'm there the better read I get on things. What about you?"

"I merely go by scientific fact Booth."

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled, taking her glass from her, putting it down and pulling her close. They kissed, slow and leisurely, exploring each other after the long day.

Booth broke the kiss, brushing her hair back and taking in her face. Her make-up today was soft and minimal; mascara and lip glass, and it made her look young and innocent. She smiled at him, knowing he was taking her in.

"For not being a scientist, you sure make a lot of observations," she told him as she began to loosen his tie from its knot and pull it through the loops of his shirt.

"Maybe I just like looking at you," he replied with a soft kiss. "Let's go take a shower."

"That's the best idea I've heard all day."

Booth stood facing the faucet, hot water hitting the back of his neck and rubbing down his back. Brennan stood behind him slowly running her soapy hands up and down his skin, letting her fingers linger on his more sensitive spots, massaging gently.

"Magic," he hummed. "I've always said you had magic fingers, baby."

"It's just a basic knowledge of the human skeletal system..."

"Oh yeah," he sighed as she pressed on his spine.

"A studied knowledge of the muscular system..."

"Right there."

She pressed her fingertips firmly into the muscles around his shoulder blades, knowing he carried his stress there. "And an intimate knowledge of your pleasure system."

"You're the best, Bones."

She pressed kisses to his wet skin and wrapped her arms around his torso hoping to make him feel comfortable and protected. He gave her hands a squeeze as he held them to his chest.

"You want to talk about it?" she asked gently knowing he would open up in his own time.

Where to start? "It was surreal, Bones. Only word for it."

**18 Hours Prior**

_The direct line to Brennan's office rang and she answered on the second ring. _

_"Hey cupcake." _

_"Not happening, Booth." _

_He laughed at her instantious veto of the pet name. "Listen babe-"_

_"I'm not particularly fond of that either but anything's better than cupcake." _

_"Gotcha. Listen, I'm going to have to postpone lunch. Charlie's got a witness from the train crash this morning and he asked me to interview him. Can you give me an hour or so?" _

_"Of course." He could hear her stapling papers at her desk. "When is the team going to be able to get to the sight?" _

_"Hacker says probably not till three. HAZMAT is cleaning as quickly as they can; making it workable." _

_"I hope they don't compromise the crime scene or disturb the remains." _

_"Some of it isn't going to be avoidable, Bones. They have to make it safe for you and the squints to get in there. I'll come get you as soon as I'm able. Gotta go, see you in a bit." _

_"Bye, Booth. Good luck with your witness." _

_"Thanks honey bun." And he disconnected. _

_Brennan put the receiver back in the cradle. "What is with him and pastries?" _

"I shouldn't have even been there, Bones. It was Charlie's interview. If I had been at lunch with you I would've completely missed him. It's like...what are the odds, right?"

Ignoring the rhetorical question Brennan moved on. "But Charlie would have realized who he was surely, the last name would have gave him the obvious connection."

"But that would have been after the fact. He would be long gone."

"What was it like, seeing him? How did he look?"

"Good I guess. He wasn't drunk if that's what you're asking."

"Booth I didn't mean-"

He squeezed her hands. "No I know babe. He was just as surprised to see me as I was him. He still looked like himself but he's put on some weight, greyed a little. He stills smokes; I could tell from his teeth and fingers but other than that, same ol' dad."

"And you still don't know what why he's in DC?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Bones. Could be a number of reasons."

He turned around and captured her mouth in a hard and fast kiss. Her arms went around him and he held her close. After an attmept to deepen the kiss that he didn't repsond to she pulled back and gave him a questioning look.

"I'm sorry," he breathed pressing their foreheads together. "I've just got a lot on my mind. I wouldn't be any good tonight babe." He cupped her cheek gently and gave her a small smile. "Rain check?"

"Sure Booth, I understand."

**B&B**

Brennan was used to getting up early; she'd been doing it for years now. She wasn't used to (thanks to her partner who insisted on being next to the alarm) having the alarm blare for a long enough time to fully wake her up. Instead she was used to having hands and lips waking her up as he warmed her body into a wakeful state with any number of pleasures.

She wasn't surprised his side of the bed felt cold. When he had a lot on his mind he didn't tend to sleep well. When she padded into the kitchen to start some coffee and rummage through the fridge for breakfast she was surprised however to find a note on the counter saying he had gone for a run and would be back soon. The time he had marked on it was 3:47. She simply began fixing breakfast and waited for his return. He came through the door roughly twenty minutes later.

"Hey," he greeted her as he passed through the kitchen on his way to the bedroom. "I'm gonna shower." He paused long enough to look in her skillet. "Smells great; give me ten minutes."

"Yup," she replied and he was gone.

When he returned, clean from head to toe, freshly shaved and dressed down in jeans and a FBI t-shirt, she was waiting at the bar on her second cup of coffee, her breakfast already gone.

"In the microwave," she said answering his question before he asked it. "And bring the pot over too please."

He brought everything over and joined her, refilling her cup before he dug into his meal.

"This is really good Bones, thanks." He added a little sugar to his coffee before he took a long drink. Looking over at her, realizing she hadn't said anything other than 'yup' to him since he arrived home, he could tell somehting might be wrong.

"You ok babe?"

"Fine." She answered as she brought her cup to her lips, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm glad you're not a professional liar for a living Bones, you'd be living in a van down by the river. What's wrong?"

She turned on her stool and stared at him. "You got some nerve, you know that?"

"Nerve? What are you talking about?"

"If I had gotten up before four am and gone for a run you'd have SWAT, the police, NAVY seals, and those men who pilot the black helicopters out looking for me. It's bullshit you enforce rules on me you have no intention of following yourself."

It was rare to hear her curse and it threw him off. "Bones, I-"

"What Booth, you what?" she snapped, her anger growing.

"I'm sorry, babe. I had this nervous energy I needed to work off. With seeing my dad and the train accident; I couldn't sleep so I thought maybe a run would help me focus. And it's not that I force rules on you. I've never forced anything on you. I just didn't want to wake you. I left a note."

"Oh yes, a note." She wadded it up and threw it at him. He let it bounce off his chest and hit the floor.

"What would have rather me done, Bones? Gone and not left a note?"

"I would have rather you not gone Booth. How many times," she grabbed her hair in frustration," probably a thousand if I counted correctly, you have told me there are crazy people out there and rapists and wackos and God knows who else just waiting for you to walk by and BAM! no one ever sees you again unless it's on a milk carton. Do you want to be on a milk carton Booth, do you?"

It was taking all the self control he had not to burst out into histerical laughter. "I'm gonna take a stab at this and say no, I don't want to be on a milk carton."

"Damn right you don't! So why, answer me that, do you think it's ok to go run at that early hour but if I had wanted to do the same thing you would have chained me to a radiator?"

"Bones, I didn't go out to make you mad. And I was safe the whole time."

"You can't pssibly know that, Booth. Safe is a relative term."

Booth sighed as he pulled her close and wrapped her tightly in a hug. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"You didn't scare me," she said into his chest.

He laughed. "I didn't?"

"No. You pissed me off."

"Ho! Right, my bad. I'm sorry then that I pissed you off."

She nodded against him, holding him tightly. "You smell good."

"Thanks. It's that new soap you bought."

She smelled again. "it is. When I smelled it at the store I thought it would be nice on you." She put her hands on his face feeling the smoothness of his fresh shave. "Please don't do that again."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

He held up three joined fingers. "Scout's honor."

**B&B**

"Looks like Hodgins is here with the Bug Bus," Booth commented pulling along side a Jeffersonian van.

"I hate it when you call it that," Brennan said shaking her head. "Evidence Collection Vehicle."

"That's what I said, Bug Bus."

Booth parked just outside the crime scene perimeter, flashed his badge to the on-gaurd officer, and escorted himself and Brennan to where they were to begin collecting for the day. FBI forensics teams were already in place, photographing, bagging and making notes of things they collected. Large boxes were placed every few feet to keep everything in order for collection.

"Hey guys, over here!" Hodgins called, waving a gloved hand in the air.

"'Morning," he greeted them. "Hope you don't mind I got here early. I was anxious to start."

"Not at all," Booth said. "Find anything of interest yet?"

"Just the usual stuff, man." He pointed to his own collection box. "I've been taking samples of the soil every three feet to help determine the disapation rate of the explosion. It'll take me a while to analyze everything but I think it can give us some good information."

"Good idea," Booth said with a sharp nod. He looked at his watch; a few minutes after 7:00. "I have to meet with Hacker for a briefing at 8:30, do you think we could all meet about 8:00 and give me a run-down of what you find?"


End file.
